THE ABIGAIL MYSTERIES

THE ABIGAIL MYSTERIES is a mystery on the Great American Family Channel about a true crime podcast host who returns to her hometown of Prescott, Arizona, where she runs into a mystery close to home when her friendly, elderly Christian neighbor mysteriously dies. THE ABIGAIL MYSTERIES is an engaging mystery with a strong, inspiring Christian worldview that promotes faith and turning to God, prayer and the Bible in times of trouble.

The movie opens with Abigail Broukes settling into her new house in Prescott, Ariz., her hometown. She’s removing books from the previous owner and getting ready to load the shelves with her own books. She finds an old red Bible with an inscription from her grandfather, who still preaches at a local church. Her grandfather wrote that he will always love her, and he cites Deuteronomy 31:8, which advises people to never be afraid or discouraged because “The Lord Himself will go before you” and will never leave you or forsake you.

The movie reveals Abigail recently suffered a miscarriage, and the tragedy broke up her marriage. The movie also reveals that the miscarriage hurt what little faith she had in God. Also, the second season of her true crime podcast is not going so well.

Going out for a jog, Abby runs into her elderly neighbor, Marian Watson, a woman she’s known since she was a child. Working on her roses in the front yard, Marian welcomes Abby back home and promises to give her a welcoming gift of a lamp.

When Abby returns from her jog, she finds Marian’s door open, and Marian’s body lying dead inside. The lead police officer who arrives is Abby’s childhood friend, Matt. Abby is suspicious about Marian’s death. She calls Matt’s attention to a disturbed planter with a shoe print in the dirt and a stray gardening glove. Abby tells Matt that Marian wasn’t wearing gloves when Abby talked to her earlier, but Matt is skeptical. He asks Abby what’s the motive, and Abby admits she doesn’t know of any.

Back home, Abby finds a Tiffany lamp on her front porch. After bringing the lamp inside, Abby looks on the Internet and finds out that Marian was the heir to a railway fortune of 23 million dollars. “There’s your motive,” she tells herself.

Despite her suspicions, the coroner labels Marian’s death as a fatal heart attack. Abby’s still suspicious, however. She examines the lamp Marian gave her and finds a tattered business card and a note citing Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” There’s no record, though, of the business cited on the card, which turns out to be a female attorney’s name.

Abby’s suspicious are aroused again when a mysterious man with a hood appears next to a tree during a little neighborhood memorial outside Marian’s house. Abby tries to talk to the man, but he runs away and disappears. At the memorial, Marian’s son, Theo, appears with his wife, Cami. The movie reveals that Marian had an unwed pregnancy and given up Theo for adoption. She had recently tracked him down, however, and the two had re-established a relationship. Despite this, Abby’s suspicions are aroused again when she sees Theo and his wife arguing about something.

Will Abby find out the truth about what happened to Marian? Can she find and expose Marian’s possible killer?

Though it’s a little bit soft at times, dramatically speaking, THE ABIGAIL MYSTERIES is an engaging drama, with appealing characters and several suspenseful scenes. It also has a strong Christian worldview. For example, the movie promotes faith, forgiveness and turning to God, faith, prayer, and the Bible in times of trouble. Also, people make multiple positive references to “The Lord.” That said, Jesus isn’t referred to directly in the dialogue, but there are images of the Cross and images of a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of Jesus and the apostles at the Last Supper. The painting provides an important clue that helps Abby solve the case.

So, overall, MOVIEGUIDE® highly commends THE ABIGAIL MYSTERIES.